I saw Michelle Wie play in the Australian Women's Open a few years ago in Adelaide. A beautiful ball striker and and not stuck-up. I thanked her for coming to Australia, to show-case her skills to the many Aussies who otherwise would have never been able to see her play. She appreciated my comment. A friend who was also at that event told me that he saw Michelle after handing in her score card at the scorer's office that she struggled with obvious pain when walking. But she hid this from the fans on the course. I was not surprised when I heard that she was retiring. Thank you Michelle and enjoy your retirement.
Agree 100% JT. It wasn't about taking one thing at a time...aka progression... It was about her long drive and how she could compete on the men's course. By the time she won her first LPGA, she was probably burnt out by then. She had a beautiful swing.
@@e.g.flores2819 A swing thankfully has risen and sank, just a repackaging of his early stuff, I had a booklet free with a golf mag about 25 years ago that said the same thing, with emphasis on the club head being in front of the hands in the takeaway, that's about it, just glossy well done production values !!
As a pseudo-expert on Michelle Wie's career, I put the blame on her father, BJ. I took a day off to watch her play in Atlantic City when she was 13. My wife and I cancelled dinner plans to watch her miss the cut by 1 stroke at the Sony when she was 14. She missed the cut by 1 against a PGA field when she was 14! Let that sink in. Annika Sorenstam, the best female player in a generation, missed the cut by 3 in a PGA event. She/they (her and her Dad) had Tiger's blueprint to work from. Earl made sure Tiger won consistently at the junior level, then at the amateur level and college. Then Tiger went pro and cashed in. BJ went for the money early. Instead of having Michelle win a US Amateur or 2, he had her go pro at 16. They cashed huge checks and at 16 years old. Wie was the 13th highest paid athlete that year in all of sports. But she wasn't learning how to win. She was becoming a spectacle. They kept going against the men. She was doing great at the LPGA majors and just falling short. She went to Stanford, but could not golf because she was a pro. I'm sure juggling college and the LPGA was a challenge and I'm sure it hurt her development as a player. I'll go to my grave thinking had she competed in US AMs and Curtis Cups for 3 years and competed at Stanford a couple years (anyone ever heard of Rose Zhang?) she would have hit the ground running in the LPGA. But Dad took the cash. She could have been a generational player. I guess we'll never know. Tiger did OK by waiting four years to turn pro at 20. As did Phil.
Yeah, it's true that the Wie case was a bad perfect storm: Those greedy people, parents, pressure put on her at such a young age, and most of all, the coach's misunderstanding of the true sense of golf game. It was tragic, and Michelle paid a great deal.
hind sight is 20 / 20. Easy to say now. Bottom line is it wasn't meant to be. She's as much to blame as anyone. She continued to make drastic swing changes as an adult.
I was just about to say the same thing until I read your comment. The parents pushed her to move up too fast. Learning how to win over and over is the key. Not letting her follow Tigers path of winning at every level was the key to her downfall. As a player with multiple city, state and club championships when I get over a pressure shot in a key situation I say to myself,”You’re a former champion and the only that can hit this shot.” This frees my mind up to not think about technique and swing freely. I’ve played with many gofers as good or better than me who have never captured and championship club,city, or state because they can’t hit the pressure shot at the key moment.
Wie was fed up with the LPGA long before she enrolled at Stanford. The petty back-biting of the LPGA officials can only be rivalled by the petty back-biting of the WNBA. Ask Caitlin.
She's awesome. Nothing to be ashamed of or regret. An incredible golfer, that had a wonderful career. No sense looking back on "What might have been" for any of us. She's great.
I've know David for 30+/- years and I can tell you ..YOUR SPOT ON !!! It's never just A-B with him and he constantly contradicts himself. And there is no "cause and effect" ..JUST DO IT !? I've seen this first hand and has had to deal with the aftermath .."Deprogramming". Several times I've told him to "GET AWAY FROM MY PLAYER" and he's tried to get me tossed from tournaments.
Her Mother and Dad tried living their golf lives through Michelle , her Mom & Dad after every round went over every shot criticizing her play and kept going to every damn swing coach known to mankind , putting so much BS inside her head !!
Here’s an easier way to think about it. Regardless of her parents, she never had the killer instinct to go after trophies. If her parents hadn’t pushed her, she wouldn’t have done any better. She turned pro at 17. Made a lot of sponsor money…. And it changed her life. I’m sure she’d do it again.
@@jcjbike I don't know. Maybe if her parent didn't push her she might not play at all. lots of parent push their kids to do things they really don't want to.
@@PiyachonYuenyongHYDE that could be true as well. What I’ve learned in my sports career is when you go to the next level (post high school where sport is a job) you have to really want it.. or it’s drudgery. She clearly didn’t have that killer drive to win on the tour.. or she would have far more often then just a few times. And that’s ok.. that’s her personality and that gave her the results she got. That’s her legacy..
Leadbetter sucks. Had she had a coach like Butch Harmon that helped polish what she did well rather than try and force a method down she would still be playing. Instead she got the early version of the "A Swing." Also, more pros need to find a way to be more confident in themselves. Lee Trevino has said repeatedly he does not understand why these pros are taking lessons from guys who can't beat them. The way coaching is today if a person started off swinging like Bruce Lietzke they would try to change everything. Swings like Jim Furyk's or Miller Barber's would not be aloud to exist with today's coaching.
My mother in law is good friends with Jerry West's (NBA fame) family. I got surprised to learn Mr. West is Michelle's father in law. Loved watching her play on the LPGA tour. Wishing her more success!
He may not be everyone's cup of tea, but, to be fair: David Leadbetter coached players who have won 26 major championship titles, including Ernie Els, Nick Price, Michelle Wie, Lydia Ko, and Greg Norman.
Hindsight is 20/20. That is what people call Monday morning quarter backing. Coaching is not teaching. The player puts her trust in the hands of the coach. Nurture or nature? A coach makes the player mentally tough by making the mechanics of golf second nature. Then it becomes more mental than physical. Michelle is a fierce competitor. But maybe she is a people pleaser. You do what works for you and Lydia Ko maybe realized that more so than Michelle. The psychology of competition is to deliver results. When that didnt happen adjustments were needed. As an adult you cant expect to be protected. You learn to be an advocate for yourself. As a Stanford graduate, she had the wherewithal to confront Leadbetter. She could of said this isnt working and garnering results. As a coach Leadbetter should have read Michelle to figure out what motivates her. So in that regard Leadbetter failed. But if your looking for protection golf is an unforgiving game and people lose their Tour card. Michelle asking for advocacy in womens sports is like EEO laws. Its dliution of the competition factor which is the philosophy of sport. I wasnt smart enough to go to Stanford. Do you see me advocating for a more egalitarian admissions process? Then Stanford wouldnt be Stanford. In real life not everyone gets a trophy. Michelle is great in her own right. Amazing. For her to try to come to the rescue of Rose is to reinforce the negative and false stereotype of women as frail and vulnerable. So she didnt get the outcome she deserved. Yes. But she had the opportunity and few people even get that. Life is full of twists and turns. Its a crap shoot even when one is as perfect as Michelle. I just get disgusted with people like Hilary Clinton who thinks she should of been President. Many people may think Michelle should of been great. She was and is undeniably so.
Leadbetter should have been jailed for what he did to her. She had a long flowing beautiful swing and should have just kept it. She could swing a club with 85% of her power and still drive it past the other women on the LPGA.
@@chucklucas8747 Lee Trevino has said the same thing. You are in good company 🤣 I agree with you entirely, another example is Jamie Sadlowaki. As you know he was a long drive champ and he was actaully quite gifted at golf. Back in 2010 From my understanding he got hooked up with Peter Kostis and the guy started trying to change everything. A guy who could drive the ball 340 with a two iron. Rather than help polish what he already did well he tried to overhaul the whole thing. Jamie's aspirations of making it on tour fell apart. Now he is trying regain what he used to do naturally. Thankfully, Titelist has a lot of data from his old swing, they measured everything as they were all trying to undersrand how he generated 150mph of club head speed at a body weight of 170lbs, before someone tried "helping" him.
Not true - history shows many great coaches were not good players when a greater appreciation of the fundamentals that that made them achieve better than the average athlete they were!
I remember her going pro at around age 15 years old. I honestly thought she would dominate the LPGA Tour but it seemed like she was injured a lot. She'd come back after an injury & then get hurt again just over and over during the course of her entire career, then suddenly she was retired & got married to Jerry West son and started a family. I'd hate to call her a bust because she DID win a few events to include a major tournament BUT she didn't come anywhere close to fulfilling all the hype that surrounded her when she started. Some media folks were looking at her to be the female version of Tiger, too much pressure I think...
Trying to blame one person or many is a fool's errand, especially in this case. Michelle had serious injuries that she kept trying to ignore. She kept getting more and more injured. Then practicing while injured threw her game off. She needed to take time off to heal. She was a typical teen who believed she nothing could ever be wrong. She found out that real injuries really happen to teens along with everyone else. not managing her injuries correctly seemed to be the real problem with Michelle. Then possible having people like David Leadbetter trying to fix things that maybe weren't broken hurt her more. It was really not addressing or believing in her many injuries that really hurt her. I know I tried to tell her that she needed to deal with her injuries several times. She didn't listen. Just another voice from the peanut gallery was in this case very right.
A great role model for young girls, enjoyable to watch and a sweetheart on the course with male golfers. Watching her grow up on television was quite an experience of pride, talented, smart and beautiful, God bless Michelle and her family!😎🎯🇺🇸
Each Persons Body is capable of different Golf Swings , Trying to make all Bodies swing the same way is not intelligent especially when they have imbedded a muscle memory from early childhood , Also overbearing Parents take all the enjoyment out of Sports and just create mental tension that also can ruin a beautiful Golf Swing .
I remember her coming up on tour and people comparing her to Tiger calling her Tiger of the LPGA tour. No one is Tiger and living up to this wouldn’t happen. Too much pressure because of this talk.
I spoke to a multi major winner some years ago about Leadbetter. Whilst she did not outright bag him, she did say that many players who were coached by him did seem to have more injuries than other players on the tour.
Remember this wisdom. In your future, not a speck of regret will be found in any moment that you spent with your child. Every bit of it will be more uplifting, rewarding, and enriching than any moment spent without them. While I can't honestly say that this is true for everyone, I can personally verify it to be factual for me.
Wie’s experience with Leadbetter was similar to how Hank Haney changed Tiger after he’d been coached by Butch Harmon. I’m an avid reader of golf books and read both Tiger’s 2002 book “How I Play Golf” and Butch Harmon’s 2006 book “The Pro: Lessons from My Father About Golf and Life” in which he describes how he became Tiger’s coach which has some parallels with Michelle Wie’s career. It was Tiger’s father Earl who sought out Harmon as a coach for Tiger because he recognized Tiger was too much of an intuitive “feel” player and that style of play while brilliant wouldn’t work over the long haul at the pro level. Harmon gave up a very cushy deal he had in the middle east to coach Tiger and make his swing more “mechanical” and reliable under pressure without destroying his intuitive ability, which is what separates elite golfers like Tiger, Phil and others from the rest. Then Tiger had a parting of ways with Harmon and when with Haney who made him too mechanical with a physically punishing swing style which led to his back and leg injuries. The only person to “blame” for the trajectory of Michele Wie’s career is Michele Wie because at any point in her life she could have said, “I don’t want to do this any more” but once put on the treadmill of competitive golf as a kid she wanted the fame and fortune as much or more than they did, pushing herself harder than they did. I watched the same thing happen to my wife’s second cousin who was good enough as a young girl win her state championship in US Kids golf at ages 8 and 9 and finish 6th both years in the US Kid World Championship. Her parents took out a second mortgage to afford to fly with her to competitions all over the US and she qualified for the US Junior Open the year Lexi Thompson won, missing the cut by one stroke, but managing to snag a full-ride golf scholarship. She made it as far as qualifying for one of the mini-tours before injuries hampered her play and she decided to quit competition and become a golf ‘influencer’ instead, now thanks to social media and sponsors making a six-figure income doing it.
David Leadbetter is a nonsense. As soon as he gets his swing crâp aids out; I turn off. What was Wie thinking of and who advised her. Faldo was one of Leadbetter’s early players but I think he tinkered so much Faldo doesn’t even talk to him now.
@@congero113 at what point would you say Michelle Wie had a flow? All there ever was was constant underperformance. Hype sells. I’m sure she made triple the money of better performers. And she took a lovely hiatus for college. She was not a victim. She took advantage of the game, the fans and her sponsors. Now she is being treated like a wise, experienced great player and enjoying the role. It’s a strange world we live in.
300 yards down the fairway untl she was paired with men who averaged 280 and then she couldn't keep up.What ruined her was ever letting her think that she was going to play on the PGA tour.
Michele Wie still has a role to play and a platform from which to advocate for women's sports. She is well known and held in high regard by many who don't follow golf but enjoy playing, themselves.
To many teaching pro's concentrate on what happens at the top of the swing, and not how you come through the ball at the bottom. Furyk is a perfect example that it doesn't really matter what happens up top.
My son is a soccer player. At age 8 he’s already having coaches come around. Now soccer is diff than golf. Golf is a nightmare. But he plays all year round. Practices 5 days a week. And I train him in running and core workouts. He loves it. But if he ever gets overwhelmed I would scale things back. He plays with U13 kids. It’s crazy how youth sports can get. ESP if you have a talented kid. I watched his teammates quit who were outstanding players.
I love Michelle and have always hoped that maybe some day she would pick up her clubs again and let us cheer her on. But whatever she decides, i will always love the excitement she gave to us.
Leadbetter is not better. Leadworser is more like what he teaches! Tried to give my friend a lesson and my friend just listened and said. There’s no way I can do that I m not supple enough! Left the range!
Not a sports story but similar. My son could've become a professional rock guitar player but chose to become a chemist. He still collects guitars to this day but never regretted his decision.
Yes. I remember hearing about Ledworser instructing her back then. Wish Wie’s friends would have guided her away from him. I’ll always remember her as one of the greatest.
Tiger and Harmon’s coaching worked. Had his troubles and changed his swing and coach. The game is between the ears before it gets to the club. Wie and tiger had people get between their ears. There’s not enough room up there. It’s too bad. Enjoyed their early days, immensely.
With several high finishes in LPGA majors and 2 times being a short put away from making a cut on the PGA before her 16th birthday, Michelle Wie is arguably the greatest under 16 yr old golfer male or female ever.
To say she was supposed to be the Caitlin Clark of golf is understating how much hype she had. People actually had arguments about whether she should be allowed to play on the PGA Tour. The assumption was she had the potential to be as good as male professional golfers, but if males can't play in the LPGA (this was a different time, kids), why should women be allowed to play in the PGA. I don't think anyone believes Clark can play in the NBA. Should add that not everyone thought this about Wie. The guy in control of The Masters -- at the time when Augusta continued to deny membership for women -- said that if Wie qualified, sure, she could play in their tournament.
Forgive me, but don’t we measure an athlete by how fully they develop their potential? It’s hard to think of many athletes who failed to do this more greatly. It’s hard to imagine that all the blame falls on her parents and coaches. Now the media seems to be proclaiming her an all-time great and a victim at the same time. And had a perfect game in her teens. Her inability to win is pretty shocking. And that putting stance was like an SNL skit. A victim doesn’t usually get millions and millions in endorsements that don’t even demand performance. I’m very confused when sports are a very good reality check.
i think that is so right . To many people think they have the big athlete , they may have , let them choose their path, let them seek advice ,ask questions. If a person is hurt, let the injury heal and take time don't rush them back because you want too
She is an example of what not to do in golf or professional sport. I think if she had kept her life simple, without focusing so much on appearance and hype, she could have had a successful career. Just look at Inbee Park. No drama, simple swing, never treated the golf course as a runway for a fashion show, and always respectful towards the game. The game humbles you when you try to outshine others even before entering the tour.
Wie was an entitled and arrogate brat for most of her career. I lived in the Bay Area the entire time and I've known a few LPGA girls that came out of that area. Like Woods .... I always blamed Wie's parents for her attitude. I recall the story of her joining a club in San Jose and all of the members being told she was off-limits while on the property and not to engage in discussion with her.
man she has a gorgeous figure and swing. as my brother said " where but the lpga can you follow beautiful women around all day and not be charged with stalking .... "
Michelle will be great mentor for women and men. I believe she would be a very good teaching pro. She definitely knows the pitfalls. Golfers now a days are over burdened technical information and the perfect swing instead of just letting their natural happen. It doesn’t have to be a beautiful or technical swing to be efficient. Just grip it and rip it like John Daly. A golf just needs to be repeatable! Leave the statistics and analysis to the brainiacs.
You know I think tweaks are OK but when you get too technical, you lose your feel. One of my buddies that was on tour describes it this way you have your walk and I have my walk. It doesn’t make you wrong if you do it differently as long as the result is good. I feel sad for Michele and her potential but I think this just shows you how tough it is at the top. If you are an amazing athlete it always comes down to mental toughness. I’m sure there were other influences the drug her down and that’s unfortunate as I think she was a gifted athlete.
The whole Wie marketing was a Complete disgrace. Not just from Leadbetter, but also the WPGA and Michelle's father as well. They brainwashed a young girl and milked that money cow they turned her into. Of course she was no sweetheart either. She was full of hersel, egotistical and arrogant. She often measured herself as well by the endorsements she had, not by her actual ability to play the game. Her first year, she didn't even have a card, but the WPGA ranked her as number 2 in the world. She never even played a season. Even better, she never won a tournament. But since her big endorsement with Nike and Sony, the WPGA thought it was fitting to rank her. And rank her as number two, taking away that position that a young Paula Creamer had from her titles as a rookie that following year. I did see Michelle play. I think it was her 2nd year at Waialae. I watched her hit just twice live and told my friends (who believed all the hype) that she'll never win. Not with a swing like that. Everyone said I had no idea what I was talking about. Michelle's swing, when she was young, was an engineered swing. There was nothing natural about it. You can't be consistent if you're forcing a swing. But that's leadbetter's fault. That's how he coaches. He makes you gorgeous a swing he wants, not works with the swing you do.
Michelle Wie instead of getting a so called big name teacher named David Ledbetter to better her golf game to the next level would have faired way better in her golf pro teacher that brought her along at a young age and basically learned from that pro how to hit those amazing gargantuanong drives without changing her swing in a drastic way and instilling the positiveness in her attitude toward the game. That teacher's name is , non other than Hawaii's own, Casey Nakama. Although many thought that Casey would not be able to take her to the next level and opted to go with Ledbetter from the time she played at Stanford and into her professional start alot of her swing talent and play was due to Casey's teaching. Then enter Ledbetter and her game took a turn for the worst. From reconstructing her swing to confusing her with his teaching and personal techniques brought her down both mentally and physically. I am glad that her career ended, without Ledbetter, on a positive note by sinking that 30ft plus putt on the 18th hole on her last tournament that she played upon retiring on her terms along with putting her family first before golf. She knew that fine line of putting more effort in her family's well being then golf itself and it seems to have worked out the way she planned it. Michelle i was one of the many thousands of fans worldwide that sacrficed my weekends to watch you on national tv whenever you played. So much so that my girlfriend at that time was about to leave me because i gave you more attention when you played than i gave her. Lol actually that statement was true. OH WELL!
I'm sad that Butch Harmon didn't become her coach early on instead of Leadbetter. Her overall game would have been a lot better. Leadbetter is called Lead-Dead for a reason.
Over rated, over hyped, and overwhelmed. When you treat your child prodigy like a circus monkey, the results you get will be similar. Tiger's dad, Earl, knew to let his son learn to win on all levels, which proved invaluable, Michelle's dad, BJ, didn't understand that. Being a great golfer and being a golfer that wins are two different things.
So many famous coaches ruined players by trying to force them to do something unnatural. All players should just stick with the swing that got them to the show. Work on ball placement and course management.
Well, he didn’t ruin Ernie’s El’s career and many other Pros…..think Nike has to take some responsibility for supporting competitions against men, good publicity for Nike…..doubt she will ever be poor.
Wie had the best swing in golf and just about every expert said as long as she doesn't change her swing, she can become the best female player in golf. Of course Leadbetter did what Leadbetter does and changed her swing. Im glad Lydia Ko got away from that career destroyer.
Golf needs to bring about more natural physiodynamic swing to enhance the natural biomechanical movement of our joints to minimize injury while squeezing out maximum performance. It's such a shame for these great athletes to be forced to work against their natural talent.
I think she practicing at Ko Olina? It was so long ago. But, when she hit the ball, I could feel the power in her swing. Mrs.Wie was also very polite and kind.
She basically did what every sportsman wants to do. And that is to succeed in your young years where you can retire early still in good health and at a young age
I saw Michelle Wie play in the Australian Women's Open a few years ago in Adelaide. A beautiful ball striker and and not stuck-up. I thanked her for coming to Australia, to show-case her skills to the many Aussies who otherwise would have never been able to see her play. She appreciated my comment.
A friend who was also at that event told me that he saw Michelle after handing in her score card at the scorer's office that she struggled with obvious pain when walking. But she hid this from the fans on the course.
I was not surprised when I heard that she was retiring.
Thank you Michelle and enjoy your retirement.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts
Leadbetter did not help, but her parents were pretty bad also....they expected too much and made a bad decision in choosing Leadbetter...as coach.
Agree 100% JT. It wasn't about taking one thing at a time...aka progression... It was about her long drive and how she could compete on the men's course. By the time she won her first LPGA, she was probably burnt out by then. She had a beautiful swing.
Leadbetter also ruined Lydia Ko’s swing. Glad she is back.
Leadbetter killed Lydia Ko's swing with the "A Swing." That method ruined many a golfer. Stay away from Leadbetter lessons.
@@e.g.flores2819 A swing thankfully has risen and sank, just a repackaging of his early stuff, I had a booklet free with a golf mag about 25 years ago that said the same thing, with emphasis on the club head being in front of the hands in the takeaway, that's about it, just glossy well done production values !!
the same woke analytic nonsense is ruining mlb
@@rossdawgsbrokenspirit9038 woke?
Could say the same for Hank Haney. Look how much he screwed up Barkley. Not to mention his technique also contributed to Tiger's knee issues.
What was it exactly about leadbetter’s method that ruins swings
She will ALWAYS be my favorite LPGA golfer. I loved watching her play win or lose. Class act. God Bless you Michelle.
As a pseudo-expert on Michelle Wie's career, I put the blame on her father, BJ. I took a day off to watch her play in Atlantic City when she was 13. My wife and I cancelled dinner plans to watch her miss the cut by 1 stroke at the Sony when she was 14. She missed the cut by 1 against a PGA field when she was 14! Let that sink in. Annika Sorenstam, the best female player in a generation, missed the cut by 3 in a PGA event. She/they (her and her Dad) had Tiger's blueprint to work from. Earl made sure Tiger won consistently at the junior level, then at the amateur level and college. Then Tiger went pro and cashed in. BJ went for the money early. Instead of having Michelle win a US Amateur or 2, he had her go pro at 16. They cashed huge checks and at 16 years old. Wie was the 13th highest paid athlete that year in all of sports. But she wasn't learning how to win. She was becoming a spectacle. They kept going against the men. She was doing great at the LPGA majors and just falling short. She went to Stanford, but could not golf because she was a pro. I'm sure juggling college and the LPGA was a challenge and I'm sure it hurt her development as a player. I'll go to my grave thinking had she competed in US AMs and Curtis Cups for 3 years and competed at Stanford a couple years (anyone ever heard of Rose Zhang?) she would have hit the ground running in the LPGA. But Dad took the cash. She could have been a generational player. I guess we'll never know. Tiger did OK by waiting four years to turn pro at 20. As did Phil.
What
Yeah, it's true that the Wie case was a bad perfect storm: Those greedy people, parents, pressure put on her at such a young age, and most of all, the coach's misunderstanding of the true sense of golf game. It was tragic, and Michelle paid a great deal.
Her Dad was definitely the #1 issue! Anyone around her could see this
hind sight is 20 / 20. Easy to say now. Bottom line is it wasn't meant to be. She's as much to blame as anyone. She continued to make drastic swing changes as an adult.
I was just about to say the same thing until I read your comment. The parents pushed her to move up too fast. Learning how to win over and over is the key. Not letting her follow Tigers path of winning at every level was the key to her downfall. As a player with multiple city, state and club championships when I get over a pressure shot in a key situation I say to myself,”You’re a former champion and the only that can hit this shot.” This frees my mind up to not think about technique and swing freely. I’ve played with many gofers as good or better than me who have never captured and championship club,city, or state because they can’t hit the pressure shot at the key moment.
Wie was fed up with the LPGA long before she enrolled at Stanford. The petty back-biting of the LPGA officials can only be rivalled by the petty back-biting of the WNBA. Ask Caitlin.
YOUR WAY OFF BASE !!!
Oh Shut up.
From what I saw the lpga embraced cc. But in women’s sports the back biting is unavoidable. It happens with men too just not nearly as much.
💯
She's awesome. Nothing to be ashamed of or regret. An incredible golfer, that had a wonderful career. No sense looking back on "What might have been" for any of us.
She's great.
I've know David for 30+/- years and I can tell you ..YOUR SPOT ON !!! It's never just A-B with him and he constantly contradicts himself. And there is no "cause and effect" ..JUST DO IT !?
I've seen this first hand and has had to deal with the aftermath .."Deprogramming". Several times I've told him to "GET AWAY FROM MY PLAYER" and he's tried to get me tossed from tournaments.
You Madame, are a bad ass golfer! It's been a privilege to watch you.
Her parents were more to blame than anyone. I heard more than one story about the things they made her do that were so extreme.
Her Mother and Dad tried living their golf lives through Michelle , her Mom & Dad after every round went over every shot criticizing her play and kept going to every damn swing coach known to mankind , putting so much BS inside her head !!
Here’s an easier way to think about it. Regardless of her parents, she never had the killer instinct to go after trophies. If her parents hadn’t pushed her, she wouldn’t have done any better. She turned pro at 17. Made a lot of sponsor money…. And it changed her life. I’m sure she’d do it again.
Exactly. Terrible video.
@@jcjbike I don't know. Maybe if her parent didn't push her she might not play at all. lots of parent push their kids to do things they really don't want to.
@@PiyachonYuenyongHYDE that could be true as well. What I’ve learned in my sports career is when you go to the next level (post high school where sport is a job) you have to really want it.. or it’s drudgery. She clearly didn’t have that killer drive to win on the tour.. or she would have far more often then just a few times. And that’s ok.. that’s her personality and that gave her the results she got. That’s her legacy..
Leadbetter sucks. Had she had a coach like Butch Harmon that helped polish what she did well rather than try and force a method down she would still be playing. Instead she got the early version of the "A Swing."
Also, more pros need to find a way to be more confident in themselves. Lee Trevino has said repeatedly he does not understand why these pros are taking lessons from guys who can't beat them. The way coaching is today if a person started off swinging like Bruce Lietzke they would try to change everything. Swings like Jim Furyk's or Miller Barber's would not be aloud to exist with today's coaching.
Thank you for saying this "Swings like Jim Furyk or Miller Barber would not be aloud to exist with todays coaching."
@ I can't take credit for this. I learned this from watching a Jim Mclean video here on youtube. He was talking about Bruce Lietzke's swing.
My mother in law is good friends with Jerry West's (NBA fame) family. I got surprised to learn Mr. West is Michelle's father in law. Loved watching her play on the LPGA tour. Wishing her more success!
Thank you for your comment and watching the video!
Cool.
Yeah they worship Chad’s
Lead-poisoning is what people call it. How Leadbetter made a living while ruining so many pros' games is beyond me.
it's because he had ONE success story.....Nick Faldo.
He may not be everyone's cup of tea, but, to be fair: David Leadbetter coached players who have won 26 major championship titles, including Ernie Els, Nick Price, Michelle Wie, Lydia Ko, and Greg Norman.
Hindsight is 20/20. That is what people call Monday morning quarter backing. Coaching is not teaching. The player puts her trust in the hands of the coach. Nurture or nature? A coach makes the player mentally tough by making the mechanics of golf second nature. Then it becomes more mental than physical. Michelle is a fierce competitor. But maybe she is a people pleaser. You do what works for you and Lydia Ko maybe realized that more so than Michelle. The psychology of competition is to deliver results. When that didnt happen adjustments were needed. As an adult you cant expect to be protected. You learn to be an advocate for yourself. As a Stanford graduate, she had the wherewithal to confront Leadbetter. She could of said this isnt working and garnering results. As a coach Leadbetter should have read Michelle to figure out what motivates her. So in that regard Leadbetter failed. But if your looking for protection golf is an unforgiving game and people lose their Tour card. Michelle asking for advocacy in womens sports is like EEO laws. Its dliution of the competition factor which is the philosophy of sport. I wasnt smart enough to go to Stanford. Do you see me advocating for a more egalitarian admissions process? Then Stanford wouldnt be Stanford. In real life not everyone gets a trophy. Michelle is great in her own right. Amazing. For her to try to come to the rescue of Rose is to reinforce the negative and false stereotype of women as frail and vulnerable. So she didnt get the outcome she deserved. Yes. But she had the opportunity and few people even get that. Life is full of twists and turns. Its a crap shoot even when one is as perfect as Michelle. I just get disgusted with people like Hilary Clinton who thinks she should of been President. Many people may think Michelle should of been great. She was and is undeniably so.
@@pb12661 He did pretty well with Nick Price if you'll remember
Totally agree he's ruined so many top players swings, only faldo made it work but that was down to faldo not leadbetter.
You know come to think of it, I followed lead betters teachings as a beginner and it ruined me too. I’ve always sucked at golf.
Leadbetter should have been jailed for what he did to her. She had a long flowing beautiful swing and should have just kept it. She could swing a club with 85% of her power and still drive it past the other women on the LPGA.
And half the men on the men's tour. Her average drives were longer than the PGA tour average when she was 15 years old.
I never understood why pro's that have won several top tournaments would go to instructor that has never done any of that
@@chucklucas8747 Lee Trevino has said the same thing. You are in good company 🤣
I agree with you entirely, another example is Jamie Sadlowaki. As you know he was a long drive champ and he was actaully quite gifted at golf. Back in 2010 From my understanding he got hooked up with Peter Kostis and the guy started trying to change everything. A guy who could drive the ball 340 with a two iron. Rather than help polish what he already did well he tried to overhaul the whole thing. Jamie's aspirations of making it on tour fell apart. Now he is trying regain what he used to do naturally. Thankfully, Titelist has a lot of data from his old swing, they measured everything as they were all trying to undersrand how he generated 150mph of club head speed at a body weight of 170lbs, before someone tried "helping" him.
@@vitor301980well said
Not true - history shows many great coaches were not good players when a greater appreciation of the fundamentals that that made them achieve better than the average athlete they were!
@@mikeyposs3132 just not Leadbettr.
The blame game. Sometimes looking in the mirror brings perspective.
Amen, trying to play on special exemptions on the PGA Tour was less than smart. Her father was a huge contributor to her early demise.
Agreed. It's similar to Tyson blaming Don King. Ultimately, at some point, we have to take responsibility for our own lives and our own decisions.
Always enjoyed watching Michelle, play golf for me Michelle was and still is an awesome golfer. Thank you for sharing the video, Tim from Australia.
Thank you for watching the video!
I remember her going pro at around age 15 years old. I honestly thought she would dominate the LPGA Tour but it seemed like she was injured a lot. She'd come back after an injury & then get hurt again just over and over during the course of her entire career, then suddenly she was retired & got married to Jerry West son and started a family. I'd hate to call her a bust because she DID win a few events to include a major tournament BUT she didn't come anywhere close to fulfilling all the hype that surrounded her when she started. Some media folks were looking at her to be the female version of Tiger, too much pressure I think...
We will always love her. She’s a Hawaii own, and Hawaii born 🤙🏾🌋🤙🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾❤️❤️💯💯
Trying to blame one person or many is a fool's errand, especially in this case. Michelle had serious injuries that she kept trying to ignore. She kept getting more and more injured. Then practicing while injured threw her game off. She needed to take time off to heal. She was a typical teen who believed she nothing could ever be wrong. She found out that real injuries really happen to teens along with everyone else. not managing her injuries correctly seemed to be the real problem with Michelle. Then possible having people like David Leadbetter trying to fix things that maybe weren't broken hurt her more. It was really not addressing or believing in her many injuries that really hurt her. I know I tried to tell her that she needed to deal with her injuries several times. She didn't listen. Just another voice from the peanut gallery was in this case very right.
A great role model for young girls, enjoyable to watch and a sweetheart on the course with male golfers. Watching her grow up on television was quite an experience of pride, talented, smart and beautiful, God bless Michelle and her family!😎🎯🇺🇸
Thank you for sharing your thought and lovely words to Michelle Wie!
Each Persons Body is capable of different Golf Swings , Trying to make all Bodies swing the same way is not intelligent especially when they have imbedded a muscle memory from early childhood , Also overbearing Parents take all the enjoyment out of Sports and just create mental tension that also can ruin a beautiful Golf Swing .
Perfectly stated John.
Yep, she had a long flowing beautiful relaxed swing and all she had to do was keep it.
I remember her coming up on tour and people comparing her to Tiger calling her Tiger of the LPGA tour. No one is Tiger and living up to this wouldn’t happen. Too much pressure because of this talk.
Changed her swing to add 10 yards to compete with men. Never the same!
I spoke to a multi major winner some years ago about Leadbetter. Whilst she did not outright bag him, she did say that many players who were coached by him did seem to have more injuries than other players on the tour.
Wow so sorry to hear this.
Remember this wisdom.
In your future, not a speck of regret will be found in any moment that you spent with your child.
Every bit of it will be more uplifting, rewarding, and enriching than any moment spent without them.
While I can't honestly say that this is true for everyone, I can personally verify it to be factual for me.
Wie’s experience with Leadbetter was similar to how Hank Haney changed Tiger after he’d been coached by Butch Harmon. I’m an avid reader of golf books and read both Tiger’s 2002 book “How I Play Golf” and Butch Harmon’s 2006 book “The Pro: Lessons from My Father About Golf and Life” in which he describes how he became Tiger’s coach which has some parallels with Michelle Wie’s career.
It was Tiger’s father Earl who sought out Harmon as a coach for Tiger because he recognized Tiger was too much of an intuitive “feel” player and that style of play while brilliant wouldn’t work over the long haul at the pro level. Harmon gave up a very cushy deal he had in the middle east to coach Tiger and make his swing more “mechanical” and reliable under pressure without destroying his intuitive ability, which is what separates elite golfers like Tiger, Phil and others from the rest. Then Tiger had a parting of ways with Harmon and when with Haney who made him too mechanical with a physically punishing swing style which led to his back and leg injuries.
The only person to “blame” for the trajectory of Michele Wie’s career is Michele Wie because at any point in her life she could have said, “I don’t want to do this any more” but once put on the treadmill of competitive golf as a kid she wanted the fame and fortune as much or more than they did, pushing herself harder than they did.
I watched the same thing happen to my wife’s second cousin who was good enough as a young girl win her state championship in US Kids golf at ages 8 and 9 and finish 6th both years in the US Kid World Championship. Her parents took out a second mortgage to afford to fly with her to competitions all over the US and she qualified for the US Junior Open the year Lexi Thompson won, missing the cut by one stroke, but managing to snag a full-ride golf scholarship. She made it as far as qualifying for one of the mini-tours before injuries hampered her play and she decided to quit competition and become a golf ‘influencer’ instead, now thanks to social media and sponsors making a six-figure income doing it.
David Leadbetter is a nonsense. As soon as he gets his swing crâp aids out; I turn off. What was Wie thinking of and who advised her. Faldo was one of Leadbetter’s early players but I think he tinkered so much Faldo doesn’t even talk to him now.
300 yards? That's insane.
My Older Brother could drive the ball 320 yards and back then that was incredible.
The fact she could do this is nuts...
Golf is just an unbelievably complex physical and mental game, it doesn’t take much to disrupt the flow.
@@congero113 at what point would you say Michelle Wie had a flow? All there ever was was constant underperformance. Hype sells. I’m sure she made triple the money of better performers. And she took a lovely hiatus for college. She was not a victim. She took advantage of the game, the fans and her sponsors. Now she is being treated like a wise, experienced great player and enjoying the role. It’s a strange world we live in.
He ruined my game too
Same 😂
300 yards down the fairway untl she was paired with men who averaged 280 and then she couldn't keep up.What ruined her was ever letting her think that she was going to play on the PGA tour.
Michele Wie still has a role to play and a platform from which to advocate for women's sports. She is well known and held in high regard by many who don't follow golf but enjoy playing, themselves.
To many teaching pro's concentrate on what happens at the top of the swing, and not how you come through the ball at the bottom. Furyk is a perfect example that it doesn't really matter what happens up top.
But why did they have her play against men? She did terrible against them. I was embarrassed for her.
Great golfer and now a caring mother. I love retirement and I hope she is enjoying hers.
Incredible golfer beautiful person despite the ego-led, interfering sportingknow-alls!!! Go girl enjoy whatever you want to do ❤😂🎉🇦🇺
My son is a soccer player. At age 8 he’s already having coaches come around. Now soccer is diff than golf. Golf is a nightmare. But he plays all year round. Practices 5 days a week. And I train him in running and core workouts. He loves it. But if he ever gets overwhelmed I would scale things back. He plays with U13 kids. It’s crazy how youth sports can get. ESP if you have a talented kid. I watched his teammates quit who were outstanding players.
Thank you for sharing your story!
Putting was her downfall
Still one of the very best! Thank you Michelle for all those years of watching you. It was our privilege.
I love Michelle and have always hoped that maybe some day she would pick up her clubs again and let us cheer her on. But whatever she decides, i will always love the excitement she gave to us.
She also graduated!
I enjoy Michelle’s golf instruction on TH-cam.😊
Leadbetter is not better. Leadworser is more like what he teaches! Tried to give my friend a lesson and my friend just listened and said. There’s no way I can do that I m not supple enough! Left the range!
Not a sports story but similar.
My son could've become a professional rock guitar player but chose to become a chemist. He still collects guitars to this day but never regretted his decision.
Yes. I remember hearing about Ledworser instructing her back then. Wish Wie’s friends would have guided her away from him. I’ll always remember her as one of the greatest.
Golf is a ladies' sport. Good for her.
She was an awesome golf player miss watching her playing on TV ❤❤❤
Thank you for sharing your thoughts
Tiger and Harmon’s coaching worked. Had his troubles and changed his swing and coach. The game is between the ears before it gets to the club. Wie and tiger had people get between their ears. There’s not enough room up there. It’s too bad. Enjoyed their early days, immensely.
She was rocking the Scottie futura Phil helped develop. Very cool putter
With several high finishes in LPGA majors and 2 times being a short put away from making a cut on the PGA before her 16th birthday, Michelle Wie is arguably the greatest under 16 yr old golfer male or female ever.
I always thought she was way overhyped and just an ok golfer
To say she was supposed to be the Caitlin Clark of golf is understating how much hype she had. People actually had arguments about whether she should be allowed to play on the PGA Tour. The assumption was she had the potential to be as good as male professional golfers, but if males can't play in the LPGA (this was a different time, kids), why should women be allowed to play in the PGA. I don't think anyone believes Clark can play in the NBA. Should add that not everyone thought this about Wie. The guy in control of The Masters -- at the time when Augusta continued to deny membership for women -- said that if Wie qualified, sure, she could play in their tournament.
Babe looks masculine at 1:50 ...just saying.
She’s beautiful and talented ❤❤❤
Lead Leadbetter ruined my game as well. Well somebody sure did.
😂
Forgive me, but don’t we measure an athlete by how fully they develop their potential? It’s hard to think of many athletes who failed to do this more greatly. It’s hard to imagine that all the blame falls on her parents and coaches. Now the media seems to be proclaiming her an all-time great and a victim at the same time. And had a perfect game in her teens. Her inability to win is pretty shocking. And that putting stance was like an SNL skit. A victim doesn’t usually get millions and millions in endorsements that don’t even demand performance. I’m very confused when sports are a very good reality check.
At least she is rich and can afford a good life
i think that is so right . To many people think they have the big athlete , they may have , let them choose their path, let them seek advice ,ask questions. If a person is hurt, let the injury heal and take time don't rush them back because you want too
She was stunning
Yes!
She is an example of what not to do in golf or professional sport. I think if she had kept her life simple, without focusing so much on appearance and hype, she could have had a successful career. Just look at Inbee Park. No drama, simple swing, never treated the golf course as a runway for a fashion show, and always respectful towards the game. The game humbles you when you try to outshine others even before entering the tour.
Thank you for watching the video and commenting on it!
Wie was an entitled and arrogate brat for most of her career. I lived in the Bay Area the entire time and I've known a few LPGA girls that came out of that area. Like Woods .... I always blamed Wie's parents for her attitude. I recall the story of her joining a club in San Jose and all of the members being told she was off-limits while on the property and not to engage in discussion with her.
man she has a gorgeous figure and swing. as my brother said " where but the lpga can you follow beautiful women around all day and not be charged with stalking .... "
She is gorgeous,I think she’s gonna be alright. Smart,pretty great personality.
Michelle will be great mentor for women and men. I believe she would be a very good teaching pro. She definitely knows the pitfalls. Golfers now a days are over burdened technical information and the perfect swing instead of just letting their natural happen. It doesn’t have to be a beautiful or technical swing to be efficient. Just grip it and rip it like John Daly. A golf just needs to be repeatable! Leave the statistics and analysis to the brainiacs.
Too many teachers today or even in the past are very mechanical. Golf should be natural and athleticism. Be clear of the mind
Totally agree. It can get into your mind and just destroy your swing. It almost like you can not make a swing without forcing it.
You know I think tweaks are OK but when you get too technical, you lose your feel. One of my buddies that was on tour describes it this way you have your walk and I have my walk. It doesn’t make you wrong if you do it differently as long as the result is good. I feel sad for Michele and her potential but I think this just shows you how tough it is at the top. If you are an amazing athlete it always comes down to mental toughness. I’m sure there were other influences the drug her down and that’s unfortunate as I think she was a gifted athlete.
Miss this young star, she sure took the lpga by surprise. Proud to have her as a part of Hawaii's golf history.
U go girl
The whole Wie marketing was a Complete disgrace. Not just from Leadbetter, but also the WPGA and Michelle's father as well.
They brainwashed a young girl and milked that money cow they turned her into. Of course she was no sweetheart either. She was full of hersel, egotistical and arrogant. She often measured herself as well by the endorsements she had, not by her actual ability to play the game.
Her first year, she didn't even have a card, but the WPGA ranked her as number 2 in the world. She never even played a season. Even better, she never won a tournament. But since her big endorsement with Nike and Sony, the WPGA thought it was fitting to rank her. And rank her as number two, taking away that position that a young Paula Creamer had from her titles as a rookie that following year.
I did see Michelle play. I think it was her 2nd year at Waialae. I watched her hit just twice live and told my friends (who believed all the hype) that she'll never win. Not with a swing like that.
Everyone said I had no idea what I was talking about. Michelle's swing, when she was young, was an engineered swing. There was nothing natural about it. You can't be consistent if you're forcing a swing. But that's leadbetter's fault. That's how he coaches. He makes you gorgeous a swing he wants, not works with the swing you do.
Michelle Wie instead of getting a so called big name teacher named David Ledbetter to better her golf game to the next level would have faired way better in her golf pro teacher that brought her along at a young age and basically learned from that pro how to hit those amazing gargantuanong drives without changing her swing in a drastic way and instilling the positiveness in her attitude toward the game. That teacher's name is , non other than Hawaii's own, Casey Nakama. Although many thought that Casey would not be able to take her to the next level and opted to go with Ledbetter from the time she played at Stanford and into her professional start alot of her swing talent and play was due to Casey's teaching. Then enter Ledbetter and her game took a turn for the worst. From reconstructing her swing to confusing her with his teaching and personal techniques brought her down both mentally and physically. I am glad that her career ended, without Ledbetter, on a positive note by sinking that 30ft plus putt on the 18th hole on her last tournament that she played upon retiring on her terms along with putting her family first before golf. She knew that fine line of putting more effort in her family's well being then golf itself and it seems to have worked out the way she planned it.
Michelle i was one of the many thousands of fans worldwide that sacrficed my weekends to watch you on national tv whenever you played. So much so that my girlfriend at that time was about to leave me because i gave you more attention when you played than i gave her. Lol actually that statement was true. OH WELL!
Oh and i forgot to add that i may not have gotten all the info correct but the majority of it was true.
Aloha from the land where palm trees sway
I'm sad that Butch Harmon didn't become her coach early on instead of Leadbetter. Her overall game would have been a lot better. Leadbetter is called Lead-Dead for a reason.
Wishing Michelle Wie much happiness and good health in her future.
Thank you for your kind words!
Kama 'Aina! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ Imua Ohana.
So, she was full grown in statue but just a child on the inside. It's amazing to me that anyone survives this type of fame.
stature
A class act.
How many PGA tour events has Leadbetter and Harmon won ?
Only LPGA tourneys I ever watched had her in them. Thank the lord for remote control because I searched her out, only.
injuries and rise of new talents
in golf basically affect her standing
in golf overall she's very very successful
Can Wei also coach CC, they would be a power team together!!!
Over rated, over hyped, and overwhelmed. When you treat your child prodigy like a circus monkey, the results you get will be similar. Tiger's dad, Earl, knew to let his son learn to win on all levels, which proved invaluable, Michelle's dad, BJ, didn't understand that. Being a great golfer and being a golfer that wins are two different things.
So many famous coaches ruined players by trying to force them to do something unnatural. All players should just stick with the swing that got them to the show. Work on ball placement and course management.
Nick Faldo can add commentary to Leadbetter coaching.
Faldo is an azz
Well, he didn’t ruin Ernie’s El’s career and many other Pros…..think Nike has to take some responsibility for supporting competitions against men, good publicity for Nike…..doubt she will ever be poor.
She's clearly over-rated. The dangers of lettng the hype get into your head.
Yooooo she’s the girl that’s married to Jerry West’s son. I had no idea she played golf back in her younger years
She had a wonderful career -She will never have to worry about financial instability that causes.,70 percent of America to rely on Social Security.
i didn't know she retired. great golfer..
Her career was destroyed by her greedy father. Hitting 300 yards doesn't mean she can compete with men. She kept on missing cut on the PGA tours.
Wie had the best swing in golf and just about every expert said as long as she doesn't change her swing, she can become the best female player in golf. Of course Leadbetter did what Leadbetter does and changed her swing. Im glad Lydia Ko got away from that career destroyer.
She made millions at a young age and lives a privellaged life and people are supposed to feel bad for her? FOH.
Thank you for watching the video!
Her parents took all that money not her
Biggest under achiever in all of women’s golf of all time. Paid millions and millions for the empty hype.
Golf needs to bring about more natural physiodynamic swing to enhance the natural biomechanical movement of our joints to minimize injury while squeezing out maximum performance. It's such a shame for these great athletes to be forced to work against their natural talent.
I had the chance to see her swing and man, she was powerful.
I think she practicing at Ko Olina? It was so long ago. But, when she hit the ball, I could feel the power in her swing. Mrs.Wie was also very polite and kind.
Instead of focusing on her golf game, she went to school. She had all the talent but could not handle the pressure talent beings.
She basically did what every sportsman wants to do. And that is to succeed in your young years where you can retire early still in good health and at a young age
Did I hear you suggest that she was driving the ball 300 yards at the age of 13? Yeah right. Maybe if it bounced off a concrete cart path!
Dammit! It must be all those David Bedwetter tips in Golf Digest magazine 20 years ago ruined my game as well!! 😡
If true, lead poisoning in the water can affect performance.